Nick Hamilton

Its here! Gamble by name, Gamble by nature. Sheffield’s own Steel City Media and his partner in crime, Creative Concept have put it all on the line to bring us the most amazing mountain bike film we’ve had in years.

Going back to basics, they’ve brought together the creme de la creme of the worlds DH racers and set them loose on locations all around the globe. With a keen eye and style this will be a visual treat for us all. However the biggest treat will undoubtedly be seeing the Steve Peat let loose on a custom track in Sheffield showing that he’s still got as much speed and style as he’s always had.

Today we race. The ultimate form of head to head mountain bike racing returns to Sheffield City Centre to celebrate the Outdoor City Weekender. The Howard Street Dual course will pitch the best riders against each other and the resulting spectacle will surprise and delight seasoned race fans, families of all ages and unsuspecting passers by. To enhance the drama this year we will be racing in the dark; once the sun goes down the course will be lit up making the elbow to elbow action even more entertaining.

Made possible by Sheffield City Council the riders will race from the top of Hallam Square, across the front from Sheffield Hallam university’s main building and on down to the bottom of Howard street. They must negotiate a series of features sendable by the best and rollable by all. It mixes man-made constructions with street furniture, flat grass corners and custom wooden features. Last year the finish fadeaway and infamous chaos corner claimed many riders winning ways.

Timetable

3:00 – Practice

4:15 – Qualification

5:00 – Racing

7:00 – Finals

Dual Slalom is a knockout race format, pitching riders against each other, literally duelling their way down the hill. The winner stays on and the fastest racers progress through to the finals and the glory.

In true This is Sheffield style, every rider who races will get a prize from our incredibly generous sponsors combined with a big cheer and all the glory. The fastest racers on the day will get to pick from the pile first. We have space for 32 lads and 16 lasses.

//Lads

//Lasses

1

Brett Penfold

1

Carrie Poole

2

Ben Moore

2

Anya Tolwinska

3

Steve Peat

3

Ellie Dewdney

4

Tim Pearson

4

Katy Sunter

5

Luke Meredith

5

Chloe Taylor

6

Sam Dale

6

Becci Skelton

7

Chris Pearson

7

Gabriele Gelgotaite

8

Sam Hockenhull

8

Abigale Lawton

9

William Swinden

9

Hanna Jonsson

10

Jake Monk

10

Megan Forman

11

Matt Hockenhull

11

Toni Fryer

12

Stephen Taylor

12

Hannah Saville

13

Michael Vickers

13

Nush Lee

14

Anthony Croft

14

Abigail Legge

15

Alistair Baron

15

Kelly-jayne Emmerson

16

Richard Baybutt

16

Rachael Crellin

17

David Camus

17

Hannah Tew

18

Josh Bryceland

19

Craig Evans

20

Jono Jones

21

James Swinden

22

Aiken Collinge

23

Josh Lewis

24

James Hughes

25

Nikki Whiles

26

Damian Groves

27

Jordan Gould

28

Andrew Devine

29

Gareth Jones

30

Chay Granby

31

Daniel Bateson

32

William Easey

33

Wes Fife

34

Joe Wallbridge

35

Jack Sprogis

36

Jack Drogan

Sponsors

Massive thank you’s to all these lovely people who made the race possible!

Sheffield will be a hive of activity during the Outdoor City weekender; from theSheffield adventure film festival, to theMagnificent 7 road anti-enduro and theClimbing works international festival. Dual racing is both spectacular and easy to follow, and will provide as much of a thrill for the spectators as it does the participants themselves. With cow-bells and noise-makers lining the track, the racers will be cheered from top to bottom making it great fun for the whole family and the best hecklers in town.

I was very pleased to be asked to write a piece for Redbull/bike to promote Sheffield and the Howard Street Dual. I’m a massive fan and very thankful for their coverage of the Downhill world Cup, literally the only sport I watch on TV. They wanted a potted history of the Sheffield Bike scene in 600 words, from mates races to the howard st dual, what follows is my first go. I wrote a more in-depth piece years ago for Dirt working with Grant Robinson to document what was going on in with bikes in sheffield in 2011.

A short history of the Sheffield MTB scene – from mates races to the Howard Street Dual

Mates Races

I’ve been running mates races around Sheffield for a many years. It started back on a misty November weekend on a DH track me and my mates used to session. We met up with a stopwatch and a pair of mobile phones, that’s literally all it took. Everyone loved it and wanted to do it again and from there, things grew quickly. The 4th time we ran the race 40 people entered including one world cup champion. From this acorn spawned the This is Sheffield winter dual slalom series which has been running since 2010 and countless ridiculous ideas for races which just had to be made reality: Megadeath, TryAwfulOn, Two pint time trial, Hardcore Hartails, Mini Bike jousting, Gravity racers, Special Olympics, the list goes on. In the city the dual mates racing ethos goes way back to the late nineties at the Sheffield Ski Village with the legendary Iron Justice. What’s brought it together are a group of likeminded souls (mountain bikers) and the opportunities (radness) Sheffield offers to ride our bikes on all kinds of different terrain.

At 5pm on the 10th March Sheffield’s Howard St Dual will be broadcast live on the internet. Part of the Outdoor City Weekender this race will light up the centre of the city with elbow to elbow action and enough Hope Tech lumens to turn night in to day. The live stream will spread the magic of dual and make the Outdoor City shine.

Lots to say, no time to say it!! The final grass corner was the absolute bomb!!! So much fun was had paddling across the final centimetres… the cheers for all were deafening. The biggest cheer of the night though went to Kel Parkin, who in her first Dual race made it to the small final and smashed it… unlike her fella… Sam. Keep trying Sam, I’m sure Kel’s got some tips for you!

The ultimate form of head to head mountain bike racing returns to Sheffield City Centre on the 10th March to celebrate the Outdoor City Weekender. The devilishly difficult Howard Street Dual course will pitch the best riders against each other and the resulting spectacle will surprise and delight seasoned race fans, families of all ages and unsuspecting passers by. To enhance the drama this year we will be racing in the dark; once the sun goes down the course will be lit up making the elbow to elbow action even more entertaining.

Made possible by Sheffield City Council the riders will race from the top of Hallam Square, across the front from Sheffield Hallam university’s main building and on down to the bottom of Howard street. They must negotiate a series of features sendable by the best and rollable by all. It mixes man-made constructions with street furniture, flat grass corners and custom wooden features. Last year the finish fadeaway and infamous chaos corner claimed many riders winning ways.

Another instant classic, endcliffes grip turned to grease in the space of 3 runs leaving the action sideways and shoulder to shoulder. The ridge line track features one very big right hander which is engineered to bring riders in to very close proximity and the shutdowns, shoves and blatant takes outs flowed